


An Analysis of Konoha Machiavellian Politics by Shimura Danzou

by Aishuu



Series: The Reluctant Hokage [10]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Drama, Gen, The Livejournal exodus, gritty ninja world, ninja playing politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:05:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2487209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/pseuds/Aishuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danzou reserves judgment on what Itachi's ascension will mean for his agenda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Analysis of Konoha Machiavellian Politics by Shimura Danzou

The day Uchiha Itachi is taken as Sandaime's apprentice is the day Shimura Danzou realizes he will never become Hokage.  
  
"It'll take a couple years of training, but I'm sure he's going to do well," Hiruzen says. "He has the heart of a Hokage."  
  
"We'll see," Danzou replies, his voice as monotone as usual, even though he's tempted to reach across the desk and throttle his rival. Hiruzen clearly intends to make sure that Danzou will never succeed him, but the use of an Uchiha as the pawn is unexpected.  
  
Danzou has heard of the boy, the latest Uchiha prodigy, but hasn't made really paid special attention to him and doesn't know much aside from what the ANBU reports say about him. He's not concerned about not really knowing about Itachi's character.   
  
There's a saying in Konoha that once you knew one Uchiha (or Hyuuga or Nara or Aburame or insert-whatever-clan-name-you-want), you knew them all. Danzou found the idea amusing, but fairly apt, since the clans seemed to produce the same personality, over and over again. The clans bred true, raising generation after generation of offspring into the same mold. The Hyuuga are stiff and proud but fiercely loyal, the Nara are lazy but brilliant, and the Aburame are quiet with ironic senses of humor.  
  
As for the Uchiha? Just by the name, Danzou knows that Uchiha Itachi is tremendously talented, moody and proud. In others, that same pride might be considered arrogance, but the Uchiha are so talented that the pride is deserved. The only difference between pride and arrogance is that the proud are able to back up their claims.  
  
What he does concern him is what Hiruzen is up to. The Uchiha are always on the outskirts of the village, the clan most likely to cause a rebellion. Danzou had drafted orders for the clan's elimination, and Hiruzen had selected this boy to carry out that order, but at the last minute there had been a change in plans. Hiruzen has unilaterally changed the plans, and Danzou can only fume at the risk that's being taken by letting the Uchiha clan live.  
  
Hiruzen has always been too soft; that is the root of Danzou's conflict with him. And the root of Root, pun be damned. Danzou can't forget the last time he saw Tobirama, watching the most powerful shinobi he'd ever fought with blithely sacrifice his life to save a young team. He can't forgive himself for not volunteering, and knowing that Hiruzen had, well... it's another thing he doesn't like to think of.  
  
Danzou spends the next several months finding excuses to drop into the Hokage's office, claiming to conduct village business, but he and Hiruzen know it's a tense facade. He comes to watch the young Uchiha to see if he's going to need to step in. He won't hesitate to give the order to kill this young man, even if it finally draws Hiruzen into open conflict with him. Hiruzen is too idealistic, even after all these years as Hokage, to do what needs to be done.  
  
Danzou still cannot forgive the whole debacle with Namikaze Minato, after all.   
  
He is old enough to recognize the value in withholding judgment whenever possible. A shinobi has to be able make split-second decisions with life hanging in the balance, but knowing the art of patience is just as important. It's one of the many little things that separates the good from the great.  
  
So he takes the time to stop in at odd moments, hoping to catch Itachi without the hovering presence of Hiruzen running interference. If Itachi is like his clan, but not bound too tightly to their machinations, he might serve Danzou's objective in keeping the village strong. Hiruzen is too soft to make Konoha feared, but Itachi might be what the village needs to restore it to the proper political posture. While Danzou would very much like to claim the title Godaime, he is not foolish enough to think that the title is necessary to control the village.  
  
Children are taught that the Hokage rules the village, deferring only to the daimyo, but life isn't that simple. The Hokage may have absolute authority in theory, but there are political machinations that go on behind the scenes. Danzou has been one of Konoha's shadow rulers ever since Hiruzen ascended, and there's no reason that needs to change if Itachi becomes Godaime.  
  
A part of Danzou – the part of him that remembers his teammate Uchiha Kagami as a valuable friend – wants to believe Itachi's apprenticeship isn't a mistake. He's too cynical to believe that their won't be repercussions, and he's old enough to suspect what they will be. The Uchiha are militant, something he approves of, but they're also disdainful of the rest of the village.   
  
But there's the possibility that Itachi is different, and Danzou thinks that might be the case. Hiruzen wouldn't sacrifice the whole village to save one clan, softer morals or not. When it comes down to it, Hiruzen can make the tough choices.  
  
It's been a long time since Hiruzen was naïve enough to consider Danzou a friend, though, because Danzou isn't burdened by gentler concerns. Danzou will do what is expedient, as long as it furthers his goal of protecting the village.  
  
He finds reasons to linger, even as Hiruzen pretends he isn't there by staring into his prized crystal ball (and what Danzou wouldn't give to have one of his own). For a while, Danzou thinks that Itachi is following his mentor's lead and ignoring him, but every now and then there's a peculiar pause in the scratching of the pen, and Danzou knows Itachi is surreptitiously sneaking glances. His pretense is a good one, but Danzou had been operating in politics for decades and isn't fooled.  
  
Occasionally someone pops into the office with a report or for an assignment. Since Danzou is entitled to know what's going on, Hiruzen doesn't kick him out. Danzou, in turn, doesn't speak up, remaining silent although there's times he wants to interject. It's one of the many small compromises that they've come to over the years.  
  
Danzou splits his attention during those times, trying to see if Itachi is reacting to the interactions. While he will set aside his work to pay attention, he never speaks up and his face remains carefully blank. After the interloper has left, Hiruzen will turn to his apprentice and ask questions about what Itachi thinks, or create scenarios for Itachi to offer suggestions for.  
  
Itachi's brilliance shows then, as he provides his answers. There is something unsettling for Danzou about Itachi's replies, since they don't contain the brutal efficiency he would expect from an Uchiha. Somehow or other, Itachi is different, despite his surface similarities to his clan. It takes a while for Danzou to realize what's so disconcerting about what Itachi has that the rest of the Uchiha clan is missing. When Danzou finally realizes what it is, he is so taken aback that his brain stutters to a halt for several moments, wondering if the world has gone mad.  
  
Uchiha Itachi possesses kindness.  
  
It comes to him as Hiruzen is discussing disciplining a chuunin team that screwed up a mission through negligence. No one had been killed or seriously wounded, and a jounin has been dispatched to repair the damage, but the team's carelessness needs to be responded to since there's so many ways things could have gone pear-shaped. Hiruzen asks what Itachi would advise him to do.  
  
Itachi offers mercy. Instead of suspending them from Konoha's service or imprisoning them for the two-year period that is written into the village's laws, he suggests putting them back on genin missions for a month. The shame (and blow to their paychecks) will inform them they're out of favor, but the genin missions will give them a chance to improve their teamwork.  
  
Danzou doesn't know what to think. Somehow or other, Hiruzen had managed to find the least Uchiha of all Uchiha.  
  
And that worries him, because he's never been able to believe in Hiruzen's dream. Any hopes he had of getting his agenda – the agenda that would best help the village – through Itachi's regime dies like fireflies in autumn. He feels the flicker of fatigue threaten to overwhelm him, since it's clear he (and Root) will be needed when the Godaime comes to power.


End file.
